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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Hiram Bithorn Stadium
Hiram Bithorn Stadium (Spanish: Estadio Hiram Bithorn) is a baseball park in San Juan, Puerto Rico, built in 1962 and designed by Puerto Rican architect Pedro Miranda. The stadium is home to the Cangrejeros de Santurce of the Puerto Rican Baseball League (LBPRC), and briefly was home to Major League Baseball's Montreal Expos during their final years.

It is operated by the municipal government of the city of San Juan. Its name honors the first Puerto Rican to play in the major leagues, Hiram Bithorn, who first played with the Chicago Cubs in 1942. Built in 1962, under the mayoral administration of Felisa Rincón de Gautier as a replacement for Estadio Sixto Escobar, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.

Dimensions

The stadium has approximately 18,000 seats. The stadium is 325 feet (99 m) down the left-field line, 325 feet (99 m) down the right-field line and 404 feet (123 m) to center field. The fences are 8 feet (2.5 m) high. When the Expos played home games at Hiram Bithorn, the field dimensions were set to match Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

History

The Hiram Bithorn Stadium was opened in 1962.

The first outdoor National Basketball Association game was played between the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks on September 24, 1972, during that year's preseason. The Suns defeated the Bucks, 116–103.

In the mid-1990s Hiram Bithorn Stadium was planned to be the home of the yet-to-be-named Puerto Rico team, a charter franchise of the United League (UL) which was a planned third league of Major League Baseball (MLB).

The stadium hosted Major League Baseball's Opening Day Game in 2001, in which the Toronto Blue Jays faced the Texas Rangers in an American League match-up. However, 4,000 who bought tickets were turned away when the police determined the safe capacity of the park had been vastly exceeded.

It was the object of a major overhaul under the mayoral administration of Jorge Santini, before becoming the part-time home of the Montreal Expos of the National League in 2003 and 2004 before their move to Washington, D.C. as the Washington Nationals. The Expos played 20 "home" games across the two seasons as a result of poor attendance at their home Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Before Major League Baseball's announcement of the Montreal Expos' move to Washington, Puerto Rico and San Juan made an effort to lure the Expos franchise to the island territory permanently.

Hiram Bithorn Stadium hosted parts of the first two rounds of the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Pool C, which included the teams of Puerto Rico, Cuba, Panama, and the Netherlands, was played there. It also hosted Pool 2 of the second round of the Classic which featured Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela, the top two finishers from Pool C and Pool D. Pool D games of the 2009 World Baseball Classic were played there between March 7 and March 11, 2009. The Hiram Bithorn Stadium hosted the 2013 World Baseball Classic with Puerto Rico, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and newcomers Spain in Pool C.

In 2008, it served as the stadium for Atléticos de San Juan and Academia Quintana, two soccer teams in the Puerto Rico Soccer League, Puerto Rico's first-ever professional soccer league.

In 2010, Major League Baseball returned to the stadium, as the Florida Marlins faced the New York Mets in a three-game series during the regular season.

The Marlins were to play the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 30 and 31, 2016 in honor of Roberto Clemente Day. However, on May 6, 2016, it was announced that the Puerto Rico games would be postponed due to the Zika virus outbreak, and moved to Marlins Park.

The Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins played a two-game series at Hiram Bithorn Stadium on April 17 and 18, 2018. It is the first time since 2010 that a Major League Baseball regular-season game was played in Puerto Rico. Furthermore, the league announced in August 2019 that they would be returning for a three-game series in April 2020 between the Miami Marlins and New York Mets. This series was later cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

View of the stadium during a baseball game in 2010

There have been, as of June 2020, 71 professional boxing events that have been held at the stadium, including many world championship fights. Two-time World Lightweight Champion Carlos Ortíz won four Lightweight title bouts in the stadium, regaining his championship from Ismael Laguna in 1965 and retaining it against Doug Valiant in 1963, Kenny Lane in 1964, and Sugar Ramos in 1967. Also, former world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson fought there late in his career.

Other uses

Along with sporting events, the stadium has hosted concerts by many famous artists.

Metallica were scheduled to perform during their Nowhere Else to Roam Tour on April 28, 1993, but it was rained out and never rescheduled.

Shakira has performed twice, during her Tour Anfibio, on April 9, 2000, and during the Tour of the Mongoose, on March 22, 2003.

On March 10, 11, and 12 of 2023, the Colombian singer Karol G performed three special shows at the stadium, in support of her 2023 album Mañana Será Bonito. Special guests included Bad Gyal, Feid, Maldy, Romeo Santos, and Sean Paul.

Some of the concerts that have been held at the venue:

Professional Wrestling:

  • WWC Anniversary Show 1984 - September 14, 1984 (Attendance: 34,383)
  • WWF – October 19, 1985

See also

References

  1. ^ Vargas FAIA, Benjamin, ed. (2014). La Vereda Tropical / Down Where the Trade Winds Blow (in Spanish and English). San Juan, PR: AIA. ISBN 9780692324301.
  2. ^ U.S. National Park Service. "National Register of Historic Places Program". Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  3. ^ "National Register of Historic Places" (PDF). oech.pr.gov. 6 December 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Blue Jays beat up Rangers in baseball's season opener". CBC Sports. 2001-04-01. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  5. ^ "Mets-Marlins to add to Hiram Bithorn's history". Archived from the original on 2010-06-30.
  6. ^ "MLB moves Puerto Rico series amid concerns about Zika virus". ESPN.com. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  7. ^ "Twins-Indians Will Still Play Puerto Rico Series". 11 January 2018.
  8. ^ "Puerto Rico set one of Marlins' 2020 highlights". MLB.com. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  9. ^ "Puerto Rico Series Between Mets, Marlins Canceled". www.radio.com. 2020-03-19. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  10. ^ "BoxRec: Venue". Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  11. ^ "BoxRec: Event". Retrieved 27 June 2023.
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